Coastal Carolina capitalized on 18 PC turnovers, scoring 28 points off of them, to take the 81-63 win over the Presbyterian College men's basketball team this afternoon in front of 1,039 fans at Kimbel Arena in Conway, S.C.
The Blue Hose dropped their fourth straight to go to 8-10 overall and 2-6 in the Big South. The Chanticleers improved to 13-4, 6-1.
Coastal Carolina opened the first half on fire, going up 17-4, highlighted by three three-pointers, in just the first five and a half minutes.
Down 23-6 with 11:14 to go, the Blue Hose outscored the Chanticleers 18-6 and trailed by just nine, 24-33, with 4:30 on the clock. CCU responded with five unanswered to increase the margin to 14, 38-24, with just under a minute to play in the first half. Both teams traded baskets to make the halftime score 40-26 in favor of the Chanticleers.
The Chanticleers maintained a double-digit lead the first five minutes of the second half, but the Blue Hose kept chipping away until the 15:51 mark when Eric Washington hit a layup to make it a 10-point deficit and Joshua Clyburn followed it up 33 seconds later with two free throws to cut the margin to eight, 37-45.
The single-digit deficit didn't last long with Coastal Carolina's Danny Nieman connecting on one of his four-of-four three-pointers of the afternoon to give CCU the 48-37 lead with 15:02 on the clock.
Khalid Mutakabbir cut the lead to 47-54 with a jumper at the 11:33 mark. He was fouled on the play and connected on the free throw to make it a seven-point game.
Six unanswered Coastal Carolina points later, the Chanticleers led by double-digits again, this time a 60-47 lead with 9:29 to go.
The Chanticleers continued to roll the remainder of the game and led by as much as 22, 79-57 with 2:38 on the clock, before settling on the 18-point 81-63 win.
Despite the loss, PC came away with several highlights as Al'Lonzo Coleman posted his fourth double-double of the season with a team-leading 15 rebounds and 16 points. Washington posted a career-high 21 points off a best three-for-four effort from beyond the arc, to lead the Blue Hose. Mutakabbir had 16 points for PC as well.
CCU was led by Chris Gradnigo with 18 points. He was followed by Nieman with 16, Anthony Raffa with 12 and Jon Pack with 10. Pack led the team in rebounds with nine as well. Kierre Greenwood had seven steals for the Chanticleers to go along with his seven assists.
PC shot 44.9 percent from the field and was six-of-13 in three-pointers. The team held the 32-29 edge in rebounds but the 18 turnovers was 14 more than CCU's four. The Chanticleers posted a 14-2 margin in steals as well.
Coastal Carolina shot 53.2 percent from the field and 43.8 from beyond the three-point arc.
PC is next in action Saturday, Jan. 21 at 7 p.m., as the Blue Hose host UNC Asheville at the Templeton Center. Fans can watch on-line at www.BigSouthSports.com, as part of the Big South Sports Network sponsored by State Farm, for a nominal fee or listen on the radio at WLBG 860-AM or www.GoBlueHose.com with the pre-game show starting at 6:30 p.m.
